Kansas guard Ben McLemore embraces comparisons to Ray Allen

Of all the players eligible for the 2013 NBA Draft, none of them is compared to a Hall of Fame-caliber player more often than Ben McLemore.

Talent evaluators watch footage from McLemore's lone season playing for Kansas, and they liken him to another shooting guard, Ray Allen. The similarities are undeniable: the 6-foot-5 frame, the smooth jumper, the accuracy from the free-throw line and 3-point territory.

But McLemore also offers something else. With a maximum vertical jump of 42 inches, McLemore is more athletic than Allen ever was.

"I definitely can compare myself to Ray Allen, especially with the shooting ability," McLemore said. "I don't know about the athleticism anymore. But I definitely can say I compare myself with him a lot as far as getting myself open, coming off screens and little things like that."

McLemore likely will be available for the Orlando Magic if the team holds onto the second overall pick for Thursday's draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who are scheduled to pick first, drafted a shooting guard fourth overall in 2012 and likely will try to bolster their frontcourt instead of selecting McLemore.

In this strange, wide-open draft, however, nothing is a sure bet.

Not even McLemore.

The 20-year-old from St. Louis faces persistent questions about his drive and his willingness to take over games.

His critics cite how he attempted just 8.3 shots per game over his final five games with the Jayhawks. If McLemore is as talented as he appears to be, then why didn't he assert himself more often in those games, which were held in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments?

It's a question McLemore faced during his interviews with teams last month at the NBA Draft Combine and when he visited the Magic in Orlando on June 11-12.

Carlos Wilson, who coached McLemore during McLemore's senior season at Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, Texas, thinks the criticism is inaccurate.

"He has a burning desire to be special, to be great," Wilson said. "He really puts a premium on winning. He's willing to do whatever it takes for his team just to be successful. I don't think that's a bad thing.

"He doesn't change his demeanor when things are going well or things are going not so well or whether it's high-pressure situations. No matter who he's playing, he keeps that same modesty about himself. It helps that he's so calm under pressure. A lot of people take that and question his love for the game and his desire, but that's just him. He is a calm and stabilizing force."

McLemore conquered several obstacles to reach his current position.

His family dealt with poverty throughout his childhood, and his older brother, Keith Scott, is now serving a prison term in Missouri for a robbery that included a shooting.

In addition, McLemore's original high school, Wellston High, was closed by the state board of education after his junior year. He decided to attend Oak Hill Academy in Virginia., but he was dismissed from Oak Hill for violating an unspecified school rule. He wound up at Christian Life Center Academy and lived with Wilson, Wilson's wife and the Wilsons' three children.

Wilson describes McLemore as a member of the family.

"He was so loving with my family and with my kids," Wilson said. "He was like a brother to them."

McLemore also had to redshirt during his first year at Kansas because he had partially qualified academically.

For all those reasons, he didn't expect to be a potential early lottery pick until recently.

Now, he faces the expectations — and the questions — associated with being a top-level NBA draft prospect.

"I definitely am ready for that," he said. "That's why I entered the draft: to be on the biggest stage."

In late April or early May, Victor Oladipo sat in front of a TV inside his Bloomington, Ind., apartment, watching an NBA playoff game wrap up on the West Coast. It was midnight. He needed to be up early in the morning.

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